Steve has been pastor of Village Parkway Baptist Church of San Antonio for over 16 years. He has been a pastor in Texas for over 30 years. He is an adjunct professor for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary here in San Antonio.

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Stop Lying

Whenever I am studying the Bible, I always ask a simple question – Why did the writer say that now? One of the convictions that I use when I am studying the Bible is that the order is very important in the writer’s progression of thought.

One of those times is when Paul comes to Ephesians 4:25. Paul is now starting his ethical teachings based on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The first area that Paul deals with is “lying”. At first thought, that seems like a strange place to start. Why not deal with sins such at sexual immorality, drunkenness, or even stealing. These are areas that we always gravitate towards when we speak of rights and wrongs.

But Paul starts with lying. Why? The reason is that we have a love of lying. It is seen in our children, we did not have to teach them to tell a lie, but to tell the truth. The first area that should change in a person’s life when they come to Christ is that they now “speak truth”. So Paul simply tells the church at Ephesus, “lay aside falsehood” (stop lying).

In Christ, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). We have been saved by grace and God is beginning his good work in us so that we will walk in good works. We are built on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles with Christ being the cornerstone. We have the privilege of knowing the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge (3:19). We are part of the body of Christ and a part of the unity of faith that comes from Christ.

We have absolutely no need to walk in falsehood anymore. We have nothing to hide because in Christ we have been freely and completely accepted by the Father in heaven. We are forgiven and we have been made new! Therefore we now have the freedom to walk in truth. Truth lays the foundation for every part of my life. If I walk in truth, then I will walk correctly in all areas of my life. That is why Paul starts with lying.

Proverbs – Lying

Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal faithfully are His delight.

Proverbs 12:19 Truthful lips will be established forever, But a lying tongue is only for a moment.

Proverbs 26:28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes, And a flattering mouth works ruin.